my almost 4yo is sssooooo slow to do anything in the morning. she's like me, just not a morning person. so i understand that we can't get started with any lessons until at least 9 or 10, which is fine for now. but what do you do with slow morning movers when you have other kids who are ready to sit down and work right away? or what should i do with her even if i don't start a lesson? she prefers to just lay on the couch and watch a cartoon show, but i realize that's a bad habit to get her in.

Hmm. I have 4 year old who I homeschool and she is a slow mover only if I miss the key timeframe for her which is right after breakfast. If I am a little slow to start school then she starts doing her own thing and it's so hard to get her to start. Maybe your daughter is the same way? If so, try to set up everything the night before or while she's eating breakfast if you can do it quickly.

If she is slow regardless, maybe have certain chores for her to do if she won't start right away. Or have her do drawing/coloring or puzzles. Not sure if it would help to create a dry erase check list of things (with pictures) for her to do while you're helping the other kids? Some things work for some kids but not others, so just throwing a few things out there.

I still don't let my daughter watch television programs myself. Advertising is so influential, up until about the age of 8 kids view things once and believe it to be fact. It's impossible to monitor and explain everything they watch when you have multiple kids. Don't take that as criticism at all, because I know that I am not in the norm here. Most parents give me strange looks when I tell them I don't let her watch TV. She never asks to watch TV because it's something she is not in the habit of doing.

I am a slow mover in my house. DD1 is always saying, "Aren't you ready yet?" I like having a leisurely breakfast, clean up etc. To meet her desire to get moving, I have her coloring books ready for her in the morning. I ask her to write about something we learned yesterday, a topic we plan on covering today, a book, etc. Just something to get her brain moving.

We do allow educational movies during the day. Perhaps switch what she is watching to something that might help during the day. We use Word World and Super Why on days when I am just too zonked, like today where I"m sick. To avoid commercials, we own DVD's and just have her watch the episode we put on.

Kids don't have to start stuff at the same time. My son quite often will get himself up, get breakfast, get dressed, and get going on his schoolwork before my ODD is even up and eating breakfast.

Until she's at that point, just let her play in the morning. Make it the routine to do schoolwork after lunch. Then, instead of transitioning from play to school, which might be more difficult, she goes from lunch to school, which is a bit easier of a transition for some kids. It would allow her to take her time in the morning to really wake up and get going.

I don't think I'd turn on the tv for her but if she wants to ease into the day but lying around on the couch or doing other quiet things I would just start my lessons for the other kids without her.

I agree with this. My oldest DS can watch a show in the mornings and then switch to 'school mode' ~ my other 3 can not ~ it makes them want to dragggggggggg on the morning and not wanting to do anything. I don't mind starting with the others while one is lagging behind. My kids have 1/2 hour to eat breakfast and then 1/2 hour to get morning chores done (which are normal morning things, like personal hygiene, straighten their room, get dressed for the day). An hour to do all of this is plenty of time to add in some lazy time, but it puts a time limit on them, so they don't have an option to lay around for an extended amount of time

We are not morning people. My kids usually wake up at 7:30 and I give them breakfast. Then, while they are eating DH and I work out. Then I make our coffee and we generally have a cup before he leaves around 9:00 to go to his office. I clean up breakfast and the kids play. Video games, run and play or watch cartoons until about 10. I used to try and get up and start right away, but no one was in the mood and it works better this way!

__________________
Vivian, wife to Ben,poet, Homeschooling mama to B-9,M-5, S-3 :
"Past the mission and I smell the roses"

Kids don't have to start stuff at the same time. My son quite often will get himself up, get breakfast, get dressed, and get going on his schoolwork before my ODD is even up and eating breakfast.

Until she's at that point, just let her play in the morning. Make it the routine to do schoolwork after lunch. Then, instead of transitioning from play to school, which might be more difficult, she goes from lunch to school, which is a bit easier of a transition for some kids. It would allow her to take her time in the morning to really wake up and get going.

i like this suggestion. I've noticed over the past couple days that she will sit quietly and do 4-5 workbook pages by herself without any complaint if she does them after quiet rest time (which is till 2pm). I still want to do some work in the morning, but i guess i need to save the harder, more focused attention work for afternoon time.

My 7 year old and 5 year old start doing lessons at around 8ish. My 10 year old gets out of bed at 10 and we do combined lessons around 11. These lessons start my 10 year olds school day and are the end of the day lessons for my other two. My 10 year old then does his individual lessons after lunch for a few hours.